Endangered Instinct
by CourtneyMisfitMarie
Summary: As Dean Cavanagh once said "empathy is an endangered instinct." I found this out the hard way. I've got this power, and the only explanation I can give to you is that I was struck by lightning. That storm did something to me, and because of that 'something', I'm now standing in the community centre in one of those goddamn orange jumpsuits. Fantastic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well hello there, my dear reader chums! So this is my second shot at writing a fanfiction, and well, I am enjoying it so far. I really kind of lost interest in my first one, hence I deleted it, but hopefully, this one will go a lot better, and hopefully you guys will enjoy this one more too! This one is actually cannon, so it does follow the storylines of the T.V. show, unlike my previous one, however, as far as I have been told, this is the first one to follow series 3, so that's exciting! Anyway, I hope you will enjoy reading this, and please review, (ONLY IF YOU HAVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM. NO FLAMES) as I would quite like to hear your thoughts! Thanks! Also, a BIG thank you to my good friend LittleGee, without whom, I never would have got passed the first chapter, so yeah, check out her stuff!**

**Courtney XxX**

* * *

_I've always been a people pleaser; all I wanted was to make people happy. "Stay in school", "get good grades", "don't do drugs." Those were the things people had told me all my life, and all my life I had been willing to oblige, until now. Turns out, pleasing everyone is hard, especially when on community service._

_Two months ago , I was perfectly happy with my life. I had a good job, I was in my final year of college and enroute to get getting straight A's. I was relatively popular and to top it all off, my parents, unlike most kids' were still together and madly in love, not that that was always a good thing. Then the storm hit, and standing here is this fluorescent orange jumpsuit of death, I think it's fair to say, shit well and truly hit the fan._

* * *

"Okay everyone, please remember to bring in your copies of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' for next Tuesday and I expect your essays on the subtext of Harper Lee's writing on my desk by Monday morning."

One more hour to go. That's what I kept telling myself. One hour to go and hell would be over for another week. I picked up my notes and shoved them into my backpack, as I walked over to hand in my already written essay. I'd always been a bit of a freak when it came to my grades, not because my parents were controlling bastards that refused to let me leave the house unless I passed, it was purely because I wanted to make something of myself. I wanted to get out of this place, go to University and eventually move away from all the hassle of teenage stress. Which back then seemed like a perfectly plausible plan.

As I pushed my way through the bundles of people that had inevitably started to form in the corridor, all I could think about was how much I wasn't going to miss this place. It's not that I didn't like it here, I loved college. I love the people, well most of them, and I got on well with all my teachers, it's just after a while, you get sick of sitting in the same room every day, learning the same stuff every hour and eating the same food every lunchtime. I was stuck in an endless cycle of boredom and the only thing that got me through was knowing that the weekend was approaching and that Poppy and I could party away the sorrows of the previous five days. Now I know that makes me sound like some drunken teenager, but the fact is, the weekend was the only time I could really be myself, just like Poppy was only person I didn't have to impress on a constant basis.

Poppy had been my best friend since primary school. We were sitting in Miss Twitchet's class on our first day and some brat of kid tried to steal her pencils. Long story short, I bit him and we've been friends ever since. Things had changed slightly since college started, with us taking different subjects and with her now dating Christopher Miller, (A.K.A Kit) perhaps one of the finest specimens to walk the earth, but we still spent every Saturday together. Where it used to be sleepovers with ice cream and cheesy Disney movies, (don't even get me started on High School Musical, I'm ashamed that I can still perform the dance routine to 'What Time Is It' flawlessly and completely in time with the music,) It's now clubs and mindless alcoholism, and while that doesn't always sit well with mummy and daddy, they haven't really got much cause to argue, it's not like I'm sleeping around or taking drugs.

As I walked into maths, Poppy ran up to me, clearly excited about something, which in all honesty wasn't exactly a rare occurrence, she found a change on the lunch menu exciting. Then again, a change in anything around here was like breaking news.

"Have you heard?!" She almost screamed at me.

"Uh…what? That Jamie just broke up with Jessica…that the cafeteria is serving coleslaw made with salad cream and not mayo, or that the weather is having some sort of shit fit? I'm going to need some specifics here, Pop," I laughed back, overtaking her and making my way to our table at the back.

"Courtney, Jamie and Jessica broke up last week, and nobody actually eats that shit anyway. No, I am talking about tonight!"

"Tonight?" I questioned, as I slumped my bag on the table and started rooting around in my bag.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard?!"

"Well I guess not, considering I have no freaking idea what you're going on about."

Poppy a little too forcefully, shoved her phone into my face so that all I could see was the light from her display and a few indecipherable squiggles across the screen.

"I can't believe you haven't heard! It's like major!" She squealed as I took the phone from her and held it at arms-length, so that I could actually read what it said. It was an address to a club, 'EVOLUTION!'

"What the fuck is 'Evolution'?"

"That new club that's opening up in town. Opening night is tonight, and if you are there by eleven, you get a round of free drinks. You're coming right!? It sounds AMAZING!"

"It sounds like a place to get roofied. I don't know, Pop, I said I'd help mum with cleaning out Jack's room. Plus I though Saturday night was our thing?" I said as I handed her back the phone.

I knew mum and dad had cleared out Jack's room weeks ago. Jack is my brother by the way, he packed up and moved out to Italy with his girlfriend a few months ago, lucky bastard. The truth was, for once, I was looking forward to going home and just relaxing before the havoc of the weekend. I needed some time to myself.

"Oh come on!" Poppy pleaded. "Literally everyone is going. Even Kit's friend Matt is gonna be there!" She nudged me on the arm and started giving me this look as if to say, 'you know you want to!'

In a last ditch attempt to try and get out of it, I looked out the window at the sky, which was now forming into a mass of pitch black chaos. "Woah. Pop, have you seen this? What is going on with this weather? Not exactly weather for short skirts and heels."

"Oh no, you are not using the weather to get out of this! I've decided we're going." She walked over to where I was standing at the window and looked out. "Besides," she said, "I'm sure this will pass."

As you can probably guess, it didn't. About twenty minutes into maths, after spending five minutes trying to find 'x', AGAIN, I looked outside the window. The sky had formed one fucker of a storm cloud, that had positioned itself right over the school. It stretched over the whole of Wertham estate and I couldn't stop myself form thinking "Jeez, even the weather thinks this place is depressing."

So on and on the teacher droned, talking about algebra or something mathematical, and I'm not even kidding when I say was about thirty seconds away from collapsing asleep. I was using my folder as a pillow, for God's sake.

"So if we take X and multiply that by three, then divide it by-" My eyes fluttered closed. Then someone screamed.

"What. The. Fuck. Is. That?!" My eyes snapped right back open and I bolted back into a sitting position, looking around the room wildly.

Maia Anderson had jumped up from her seat and was pointing out the window. She was pointing straight at the sky, where the dark cloud from earlier had turned completely pitch black. It was as dark as the sky at midnight.

"Maia!" the teacher chastised. "There is no need for language like-" Something suddenly dropped out of the sky and exploded right next to the fire door, which Miss had opened to let a breeze in. "Holy shit!"

Normally, everyone would have laughed at hearing a teacher swear. But now, all everyone could do was watch, open-mouthed, as the heavens opened and massive chunks of ice, each the size of a large dog, fell from the sky, exploding all over the pavement outside.

"What is that?" I muttered to Poppy, whose jaw had dropped to the floor.

"The fuck should I know?!" she murmured back, not taking her eyes off the mini-apocalypse outside.

"Come on," I whispered, standing up. "I want to get a closer look."

"Are you totally insane?!" she hissed, looking at me like I was on crack. "That shit could kill you!"

"No it won't," I said, a lot more confidently than I felt, and before she had a chance to stop me, I ran past her and out the fire door, into what felt like the eye of the storm

"Courtney! Come back inside it's not safe out there!" I could hear Miss bellowing at the class to stay calm.

"Poppy! You need to see this!"

Just as I turned back to face the classroom inside, there was a bright flash, then everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion.

Screams, I could hear the screams.

"OH MY GOD!" Screamed one.

"Is she dead!?" Cried another, I think it was Poppy.

"Holy fuck, she's dead isn't she!?" Poppy again, trust her to blow things out of proportion.

When everything finally settled down and the world was moving at normal speed, I opened my eyes and I was laying on the floor of the maths room, Miss Turner standing over me, surrounded by a group of children with their phones out, probably trying to catch a glimpse of real-life dead person. _Sorry to disappoint._

"Poppy? Are you okay? Poppy can you hear me?"

"Of course I can, I'm not deaf!" I replied with a little too much sass in my voice.

Poppy pushed her way to the front of the crowd, elbowing Elliot Jackson in the ribs for standing in her way.

"Jesus Christ, Courtney, you fucking idiot. You should be dead! You are one lucky son of a bitch!"

"Poppy Cartwright, there is no need for that language!"

"Says you Miss!" She retorted which got more than a few sniggers from the rest of the class, whilst I was still lying on the floor wondering what the hell had just happened and why my whole body was tingling.

"Sorry to interrupt, but one quick question: What the hell was that, and why is everyone standing around me like I'm some kind of freak?" Both Poppy and Miss Turner looked straight at me, as if to say, 'take a wild guess, doofus!'

"Uh, Courtney, you were struck by lightning, something tells me that one, as previously mentioned, you are one lucky son of a-…biscuit," Poppy answered, with a slight change to her usual vocabulary.

"And two," She continued "You are crazy. Why the hell did you go out there?! You could have died! Do you have any idea what that would have done to me?! Watching my best friend die!"

Okay, so I nearly died and she's panicking about what she would do, seems legit. The tingling sensation had started to wear off now so I started to stand up.

"Now, Courtney, I think you should lie down, and we'll get you to the school nurse." Miss instructed, looking slightly worried, probably for her job more than me, but you have to give her credit for that I suppose.

"Seriously Miss, I'm fine!" I said, hoisting myself up on the nearest table. "No cuts, no bruises," I held out my arms to show her. "I'm fine. No nurse needed."

"But-" She tried to interject.

"I'm fine, I just want to go home. The storm has passed and there's only half an hour left, can I just go?"

"I'm not sure you should be driving Courtney, and I really think you should go to the hospital and get checked out."

I rolled my eyes. Seriously!? What part of 'I'm fine' is so difficult to understand?! Poppy could tell I was getting annoyed and as per usual, was there to save the day.

"I'll drive her to the hospital, Miss." She ensured, giving me a slight nudge. The teacher just looked at her, contemplating what to do, before reaching into her drawer and writing a note to explain our absence.

The rest of the class had all started to return to their seats, somewhat disappointed as they realised any potential deaths were not going to occur, and one kid pulled the fire exit door shut, being careful to avoid any near death experiences. Poppy gathered my bag and notes and Miss handed me the note as we both head out the door and towards the car park. Is it bad to say that walking out alive after being struck by lightning, kind of made me feel like a bad-ass, and not just any old bad-ass; an _invincible bad-ass_?

* * *

It took twenty near on twenty minutes of persuading to ensure Poppy that everyone was seriously over-reacting.

"Seriously dude, I'm fine. Stop panicking."

"Newsflash! You were just hit by a bolt of lightning! You don't know that! I read this story online once, where this woman got hit by lightning, thought she was fine, two days later she was found dead."

"Okay one, I read that story, and they even published a report after that saying that she had died from a heart attack, due to her obesity, nothing to do with her accident. And two; you need to stop reading things on the internet, they are killing that little brain of yours."

Poppy sighed exasperatedly, shoving her head forward onto the steering wheel.

"Okay, how about this, if I start to feel like I'm having a heart attack, I promise I will go to the hospital." I said grinning at her slightly. Poppy could over-react sometimes, but I knew it was only because she cared about me. I know this sounds strange, but it was like I could feel what she was feeling, and right then, that was worry.

"Pop, seriously, I feel fine. There is nothing to worry about. I just need a nap, and maybe a burger. I'll be refreshed and looking foxy for tonight don't panic."

Poppy lifted her head from the steering wheel. She looked as if I had just slapped her round the face.

"You're not seriously thinking of still coming tonight!?"

"Of course I am, I promised didn't I?!

"Yeah, but that was before the whole-" she said miming a shock with her hands and accompanying it with a rather hilarious buzzing impression.

"Hey, I promised, and I am going to be there. I am not letting you have all the fun."

"What about your mum? You said you had to clear out Jack's room tonight?"

I bit my lip. Ah, BUSTED!

"Um…it's already been done. They cleared out his room like a week ago, I just said that to try and get out of it."

"You, are an insufferable child!"

"I know, I know, I'm terrible," I said, grabbing my backpack and opening the car door to get out. "Just pick me up at eleven." I got out and shut the door.

As I was walking up the drive I heard the window roll down and poppy, as she leaned out, shouted "Hey! Kit is driving tonight, we'll pick you up at ten thirty, we want to be there early to avoid the queue. Oh! And make sure you look hot!" I smiled and rolled my eyes and the car pulled away from the curb and drove on down the road.

Walking into the house, my whole mood changed. I could feel this burning ball of stress churning in my stomach, making me want to puke. _What the hell is that all about? Oh god, Poppy is right. I'm dying._ I dismissed the thought completely, not wanting to freak myself out. I was sure that everything would be fine, but walking towards the kitchen, it got worse. I couldn't help but feel as if I was drowning. Drowning in something, I just didn't know what.

"Hey honey, why are you home so early?"

It was mum, she had taken to working from home since she started Auntie Mae had died. Up until a few months ago, mum had spent most of her time looking after my aunt, she'd had terminal cancer. Then she died so mum decided to get back into law again. She'd been studying for weeks now, trying to pass some kind of exam so that she could go onto to study again.

It was weird to think that my mum was in the same boat as me despite our 24 year age gap, but still, it was better than what some parents did. Take Poppy for example, her parents had been divorced almost 12 years, her mum was a dental nurse, also training to be a hairdresser, and her dad, well, in her words was "A complete and utter tit-wank of a father." She never really got on with him, but it never seemed to get to her.

"Oh, I had frees this afternoon, so I went to the library for a bit then decided to come home." I lied. She'd only freak out if I told her.

"I thought you had maths on a Friday afternoon?" She asked; a confused look spread across her face.

"Uh, yeah I do, but Miss Turner wasn't in today, so we were allowed last period off." Lies, more and more lies. "Anyway, Poppy and Kit invited me out later, so I'll probably be staying at hers tonight." I said quickly, trying to change the subject. "We're going to the opening of that new club. Evolution?"

"Oh okay, honey. Just be careful. Do you need any money, for a cab or something?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. _Thank god that's over_.

"No, I got it, plus Kit is driving us there so I doubt he'll drink."

"Oh okay, well dinner is a six, so do you want anything?"

"Sure, thanks mum. I'm just going to be in my room. I've got some work due in on Monday, so I'm going to try and finish it now."

* * *

9:46.

_Shit balls!_ Well, that was one killer nap. After dinner I had decided to lay my head down for half an hour in preparation for that night, which had completely backfired, as now I only had forty-five minutes to shower and get ready. _Fuck. _

I rolled out of bed in record time, grabbed a towel from the airing cupboard and dashed into my bathroom.

Feeling clean and somewhat refreshed after the shower, I pulled on my favourite pair of black skinny jeans and my navy crop top, which was long enough to still be classed as a top, but short enough to show a bit of skin. I finished the outfit with my black and gold spiked wedges, pencilled on some Smokey eyes and stuck on my fake lashes. I looked at my hair, which was still slightly damp, and realised that having it hang there looking a bit frizzy, probably wasn't going to do, especially since Poppy could be guaranteed to look stunning, so I ran my straighteners over it, applied a generous spritz of hairspray and hoped for the best.

I grabbed my purse, and by the time I walked into the living room I could hear Kit beeping his horn at me. _Just in time._ I hurried through giving both parents a kiss on the cheek, which was met with a "have fun, but stay safe", from each of them, as if I wouldn't anyway, and walked outside. The chilly autumn air nipped at the exposed flesh of my stomach, but it wasn't unbearably cold, considering the time of year, and the fact that a few hours before, snowballs the size of dogs had been raining from the sky.

Poppy opened the car from the back seat and I jumped in. She was wearing black high waisted shorts, that showed her tanned legs and a mostly unbuttoned red shirt tucked into them, which she had matched with her favourite chunky heeled ankle boots, that she referred to as her "I'm-getting-some-shoes". Un-shockingly, she looked amazing.

* * *

The four of us, meaning, me, Poppy, Kit and his best friend Matt, who was also looking mighty fine, had been standing in the queue almost half an hour before the bouncer agreed to let us in. Poppy and Kit had left Matt and I alone in the booth as they went to manoeuvre themselves through the ever growing pool of sweaty bodies that were thrashing themselves around on the dance floor. Something tells me that hadn't been a spontaneous move. Poppy had been trying to get Matt and I together for years, it just never seemed to work out.

"So, how have you been?" I asked, almost shouting over the pounding bass.

"Not too bad, thanks," he replied taking a sip of his coke. Turns out Kit had passed chauffer responsibilities onto Matt tonight. "You?" He asked in return.

I smiled and nodded in response, before taking a long sip of my vodka and coke. _Well this is a little awkward,_ I thought to myself, wishing that Poppy and Kit would return and tear me away from the boring chit-chat that was becoming more and more inevitable.

"So how's college coming along?" He asked with a sheepish smile.

And there it was. I physically didn't understand how a guy that good looking could be so boring. If there was no risk of looking like a complete and utter dick, I probably would have just kissed him to fill the awkward silence with something a little better than the mindless conversation, but this was Matt, a guy that I would definitely have to see again, so I just downed the rest of my drink as an excuse to head to the bar.

"Yeah it's good thanks, do you want another one?" I asked, gesturing to my glass. He shook his head and pointed to his still half full glass, and with that I stood up and as I pushed my way in the general directions of the toilets, an abrupt, strange sensation swept over me. I felt so weird, and I had to stand still for a minute to collect myself. It was like I could feel every emotion on the planet. I felt happiness, sadness, anger, excitement…lust. What the was going on with me today?! I barely felt one emotion half the time, let alone about seven all simultaneously! I shook my head a couple of times, like I was trying to shake the feeling out of me, but nothing happened. Was this some kind of weird PMS that I hadn't had before?

The feelings grew stronger as I moved more into the crowd of dancers, and it was completely doing my head in. It was like someone had taken all the emotions of every person in the room and shoved them into my brain. It felt like my head was filled with cotton wool.

One of the emotions felt like it was growing stronger, and that feeling was lust, which was not particularly enjoyable. I couldn't understand it until I felt someone's hands on my waist, turning me around. I was just about to go all kinds of crazy on some guys ass for touching what was not his, but when I turned round to get a good view of the groper, it was Matt. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, when he suddenly leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine.

Oh God, ew. Get him off! Yeah, he was hot, don't get me wrong. But. I was rapidly discovering his kissing technique was just as liberating as his conversational skills. IE, about as interesting as a dry stick. I could feel myself frowning as I stood there, eyes open, letting him get his fill. At least, I would of, if I hadn't heard Poppy shrieking. "Courtney! COURTNEY!"

I pushed Matt away from me pretty swiftly and turned, seeing Poppy furiously pushing her way through the crowd of people, yelling, "Get the fuck out of my way, all of you! Move! MOVE!"

"I'm sorry, Matt," I said, most certainly not actually sorry. "I should see what's wrong with her." I had never been so happy to run away from a guy in my life.

As Poppy and I got closer together, a sense of pure, undiluted rage washed over me, and as she moved closer into my line of clear vision, I could see her eye makeup was streaked down her face, and her eyes were bloodshot. She'd been crying.

"Courtney!" she cried, throwing herself at me and sobbing on my shoulder.

"Poppy?! What is it?!" I asked her urgently, grabbing the tops of her arms and extracting her from me, holding her at arm's length so I could properly look at her.

"That lying cheating motherfucking cocksucking cunt!" she screamed hysterically.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Kit! He…he…he…" She dissolved into fresh tears, so I had to shake her a good five times before she even considered talking properly, and even then it just came out as stutters.

So I slapped her. "Snap out of it! What has Kit done?!"

"I…I was coming out of the girls toilets after reapplying my makeup. I'd only been in there for about ten minutes because, FYI, this face doesn't just happen!" she screeched. "So I started looking around for Kit, obviously, because I hate being on my own in clubs for too long, you know that!"

I rolled my eyes slightly, I did. The last time I'd left her alone for too long in a club I'd come back to find her sitting in the corner with her hands over her eyes. "Yeah, I know, but that isn't telling me what he's done!"

"I'm getting to that!" she snapped. "So I went to sit in one of those little sofa alcoves to call him and see where he was and…and…"

"And what?!"

"He was in there! With Kitty Thompson! He was all fucking over her!" she screamed. "If they hadn't both been wearing clothes, it would have looked like he was literally fucking her! How could he do that to me?!"

"He what?!" I demanded, thunderstruck. How dare he?! How. Fucking. DARE he do that to my best friend?!

The anger was surging red hot through my veins. Who the fuck did he think he was?!

"Where the fuck is he?!" I spat, looking around the club.

"Courtney, don't okay, just leave him. He's not worth it. I just want to go home." Poppy still had tears rolling down her cheeks, making fresh trails of mascara.

"That bastard cheated on you! Like fuck am I letting him get away with this." Having spent nearly five minutes scanning the club with no luck, I headed for the exit, poppy trailing behind me. I stopped just in front of the door and turned to face Poppy.

"Pop, go and find Matt, tell him what happened, and get him to call us a cab."

"Where are you going?!"

"That bastard hurt the most important thing in my life, and now I am going to do the same to him." I marched out the door into the cold august air, and walked a little way down the road until I came across where Kit had parked his car. His pride and joy, his Mercedes a250 that daddy had bought him last year.

I climbed up onto the bonnet of the car and screamed "FUCK YOU!" as I slammed my foot through the windscreen, which obviously drew a lot of attention from the people waiting in line for the club, but at that point in time, I couldn't have given less fucks. The glass shattered all around my foot, small shards scattering all around me. I climbed off the car and routed around in my purse until I came across my house key. _Trying fixing this, you utter prick._

I grabbed the key from my bag, and with a firm grip, started to carve the word 'cheater' in big, bold letters into the paintwork. I wasn't finished. This guy deserved castrating for what he did to Poppy. I looked around the car and found a shard of glass big enough, picked it up carefully, and not caring that it cut into my own skin slightly, slashed each of the tires, one by one.

I removed one of my shoes, being careful not to step on any small shards, and thrust it through the driver and passenger side windows and to finish off, kicked in the tail lights.

I stepped back, out of breath and bleeding slightly from the cut on my hand, to admire my masterpiece. As I stared at the wreckage, the fog in my mind cleared as the reality of what I had just done started to sink in. _Fuck._

As if on cue, a deep voice almost screamed "That's my fucking car!"

_Great, I guess running away wasn't an option_. I thought to myself, panicking slightly.

"What the fuck have you done to my car?!" Kit ran over to survey the damage, and as soon as he was in touching distance, the rage flared up again. _Jesus Christ, what the fuck is happening to me?! Talk about mood swings!_

"That's going to cost fuck loads to repair, you stupid bitch!"

"Yeah, well you deserved it! How the fuck could you do that to her!?" Before I even had any sense of what I was doing, I had lunged for him, my palm connecting with his cheek. My hand stung with the force of the slap

"Fuck you!" he almost screamed at me. "I'm calling the police!"

Obviously the noise and commotion had already drawn quite a bit of attention from the people still waiting in line. It didn't help when Poppy came running out, thankfully no longer crying, followed by Matt, who was looking straight at me.

"Courtney, what the fuck have you done?!"

"Gave him a little taste of what he deserved." I placed my other shoe back on my foot, picked up my keys which had fallen to the floor during the slap, returned them to my bag, and walked off.

"She's fucking insane!" Screamed Kit, looking at Matt and gesturing to his 'not-so-much-a-car', and holding a phone in his other hand.

"Courtney, stop! Wait!"

I stopped in the middle of the street and turned to face her. "Did Matt call that cab?"

"Yes, it's on its way, but…"

"But nothing, Pop. As far as I'm concerned, he deserved it. Let's just go home, eat a shit load of ice cream, you can bitch about that dickhead over there, and do you know what? I'm in the mood for some High School Musical."

* * *

As you can probably guess, that is not how it turned out. Turns out someone had already called the police due to my screaming various obscenities, so as Poppy and I were just getting into the cab, the police pulled up, and of course Kit screamed blue murder, telling them exactly where I was. I was arrested that night, spent twenty-four hours in a cold cell and then upon being released, was told I was being charged with destruction of property and that I had to attend court on the fourth.

I was charged with intent to cause destruction and was sentenced to two months community service. As you can probably imagine my parents were not too pleased about that, and neither was college. I was excluded until I had finished my sentence, after which I would have an interview to see if it was worth me continuing my course.

Oh and above all that, I found out that ever since the storm that day, I have some weird fucking power thing, where I can feel and control other people's emotions. Would have been nice to know that piece of information before court.

So, as previously mentioned, standing here in the fluorescent orange jumpsuit of death, only one thought crossed my mind. _Fucking brilliant._

* * *

_**A/N So there it is, chapter one! This was more of an introduction to the story, hence the lack of series three stuff, but you have that to look forward to in chapter two, which I have already started on! So yeah, hope you enjoyed it and lemme know what you think! **_

_**Courtney :)**_

_**XxX**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- So here it is! Chapter 2! Sorry if it takes me while to upload new chapters, I am also trying to juggle school work etc., but please enjoy and tell me what you think by leaving a cheeky little review? It could be MUCH appreciated! So yeah, lemme know! Also thank you to FeliciaFelicis and ClaryRoss for reviewing!**

* * *

Locker 33. A big tin box. That is what my life had come to. The next six weeks of my life will be spent staring into a locker. No change there then. _At least the ones at college were colourful._

So far as I could tell, there were only three other people being subjected to hell. Two girls and a guy. One of the girls, Charley I think her name was. At least I think that's what the probation worker, Shaun , called her. Then again, he didn't really seem like he could give a fuck what her name was. It seemed to me like he was going to be as useful to me as a sack of shit. Basically your average human then.

Either way, Charley was pretty. Her shoulder length brown hair framed her face perfectly and was sporting a rather nice floral headband, which I have to say looked good with her bright pink lipstick. She had managed, in a way neither I nor the other girl clearly hadn't, to pull off her jumpsuit. She had lowered the zip, revealing a small portion of her blue top, and not to mention a bit of cleavage.

The other girl however, could not have been more opposite. I think it was fair to say, she looked like a nasty piece of work. _Note to self, don't provoke the bride of Chucky._ She seemed pretty plain really. Apart from her few facial piercings, a ridiculous asymmetrical piece of shit for a fringe, which not going to lie, looked like a Primark extension gone wrong, and what seemed to be a permanent expression of hatred, there was nothing particularly special about her.

And then there was the guy. Tall, dark, not exactly handsome, but I wouldn't say he was unattractive. He seemed okay. I mean, he had smiled at me in the corridor, which is more than the other two had.

So, this is the company I have been forced to keep. _Could be worse I suppose._

I slammed the door to my locker with perhaps a little too much force and following Charley and '_Morticia'_ out of the changing rooms, made my way into the corridor where 'the nameless guy' was already in a discussion with the probation worker, who seemed much more interested in whatever the vending machine was spitting out, rather than what he had to say.

"I'm not sure you're cut out to be a probation worker, mate." That was 'the nameless guy'. He had some kind of Northern accent. Yorkshire maybe, it was cute.

"Is that right?" replied Shaun, with a hint of boredom in his voice.

"Yeah."

"When you finished with the careers advice," he said, bending over to collect his item form the humming machine. "You can piss of, and pick up some litter with those other three shitheads." He said gesturing over to where myself and the other two were standing.

_Ouch. Harsh much?_

He lightly slapped 'nameless guy' on the cheek twice before strolling back through the corridor, back to his office, no doubt to resume whatever menial task he had been performing a few moments before.

"Right," said the guy rubbing his cheek and turning to face us. "Before, all the accusations, recriminations start flying around, before harmony turns to discord and everyone starts shouting and jabbing their fingers at each other, right," he rambled pointing his fingers in random directions, "I just wanna say, for the record, hand on heart, the other hand on a bible," he continued placing one hand on his heart and the other, as he said, on an invisible bible, "that it absolutely wasn't me, who left the big floater in the toilet back there."

The temptation to facepalm was overwhelming, but I settled for a slightly over exaggerated eye roll and turned to face the exit of the community centre.

_Boy, this is going to be a long day._

* * *

Picking up litter. Of all the tasks we could have been given for this oh-so-charming first day of community service, it had to be litter picking. That really did take the cliché biscuit. We even got the snappy pickers and everything.

As we wandered around the estate, aimlessly picking up empty beer bottles and stale condoms, I literally wanted to be anywhere else. Seriously, I'd have rather been sitting in a room filled with clowns wielding axes at me. That was how bad this shit was. I cannot even begin to describe how bored I was. It was Monday. I was supposed to be in my Drama class right now, working on my final assessment piece of The Importance of Being Earnest. I was playing Gwendolen Fairfax. Note the 'was'. Obviously, I wasn't anymore.

For seven hours we wandered around that estate, picking up litter, going back to the community centre for a half hour lunch break, then getting shoved back out there to keep going. I swore the amount of shit in the streets had spawned over that half an hour- there seemed to be even more of it. Fuck, it was multiplying.

On a plus note - well, if you could call it that - through monotonous and vaguely awkward conversation, I found out the names of 'nameless guy' and Miss Irritating Fringe. He was Rudy, which made me automatically think of Rudolph, and therefore Christmas, and she was Tanya. Hm, a standoffish name for a standoffish girl. She'd barely said a word to me, Charley or Rudy all day.

But finally, five o'clock crawled around…slowly…so slowly…so we were set free. I had never been so grateful to see the inside of a grungy locker room as I stripped out of my carrot costume and back in my regular, simple, and now seeming a lot more beautiful, clothing. God bless leggings.

"So, Courtney, was it?" I turned to see Rudy, standing behind me, still in his jumpsuit leaning on the locker opposite mine.

"Uh, yeah." I replied with a slight smile.

"Well Courtney, myself and the rest of the gang, are going to go out for a drink or two, to celebrate surviving the first day of community service together. Whadda ya say? Fancy joining us?"

"I think, I'm going to give it a miss, this time thanks. I'd rather just go home and relax."

"Oh, come on," He persisted, "we made it through our first day. Our first day as a united team, scouring the home front of Wertham estate and freeing the nation of litter. That builds a sacred bond that does. You can't say no."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag from my locker.

"Do you always over-dramatize things?"

"Pretty much, yeah. So, are you coming or what?"

"Okay fine, one drink."

"That's the spirit!" He exclaimed raising his arms in a semi-celebratory manner.

"Jesus, calm your shit, it's just one drink. Aren't you going to change?" I laughed, pointing towards his attire. "Or is traffic cone your style?"

"Ouch. I find that very offensive. I will have you know, that orange is my colour." He joked heading over towards, what I'm guessing was his locker; otherwise he had just stolen some poor unsuspecting person's clothing.

* * *

Ten minutes later, everyone was finally ready to leave, so we made our way out onto Wertham estate and headed for the nearest bar, which when we arrived looked like your pretty average dive bar.

The place stank of beer and stale chips, but it had kind of a vintage feel to it. It wasn't too busy, there a few people standing at the bar talking to the barman, a few other groups scattered around and the odd loner sitting by themselves, probably drowning their sorrows, but other than that, the place seemed kinda dead. Even so, the cocktail of emotions raging through my body was not the best feeling. Usually I could keep it under control. I had somehow managed to train myself to block it out, but sometimes it just popped up, mainly when someone experiences heightened emotions, hence I tried to avoid large crowds.

"Garçon!" Rudy exclaimed as he approached the bar man.

"You talking to me?" He returned, looking completely unimpressed to put it politely.

"I believe so, it's French."

_Because that wasn't obvious. _

The guy behind the bar stood there looking as if someone had just slapped their grandmother. The annoyance almost radiated off him, and that wasn't from my power, I'm pretty sure everyone in this bar could sense that. Minus Rudy of course, I was beginning to think this guy was all kinds of stupid.

"You're not a fan of the French? No. Fair enough." He continued, without waiting for the guy to answer. "I don't like the cunts either. Can I have four pints of lager, please?" He asked handing over a note.

_Oh dear lord. He seriously did not just say that._

"Uh, not for me thanks." I interjected, trying my best to move the conversation forward. "I'll have a vodka and coke." I added and handed the guy behind the bar the extra money.

As I turned back to the others, Rudy was pulling a face and rolling his eyes, again, completely over exaggeratedly.

_Jeez, what is with this guy?!_

As the people next to us, the ones who had been talking to the barman, got up to leave, Tanya announced that she was going for cigarette and left through the emergence exit, leaving just me, Rudy and Charley to sit in awkward silence…for about ten seconds. I was coming to realise that unfortunately, silence really wasn't Rudy's thing.

"I just…I just want you to know, right," He said turning to face Charley. "out of the three of you, I like you the best."

"Wow, thanks. I am so glad you invited me. Can't think of anything I would rather be doing than sitting watching a stranger hit on someone clearly out of their league." I muttered sarcastically.

"I mean, she's alright. She's, like…she's not ugly or anything. Maybe a six or a seven out of ten." He said vaguely gesturing to the door through which Tanya had just left.

_You have __**got **__to be kidding me._

Charley looked at him with an almost completely expressionless face.

"So what am I?"

"I would never disrespect you like that, or any other woman, but if I absolutely had to, I'd give you a nine."

Despite my absolute best efforts I couldn't hold back the snigger that was threatening to burst from my mouth.

Charley's mouth just twisted up with a smile of not only content, but what also seemed a little flattered.

"Mm, so mathematically," He continued, "as the two most…attractive members of our little community service gang,"

"Okay, ow. That one stung a little bit." I muttered again. It was fair to say that this guy really didn't grasp the concept of subtlety.

"I believe we are genetically predisposed to copulate. Any reputable scientist would tell you that, love."

"Copulate? Really? That is just…wow."

It was clear I was talking to myself, so I focussed my attention on the only upside to this little 'family-outing' and took a huge swig of my drink.

"Oh. Well, I'm obviously incredibly flattered." Charley returned, with a slight hint of sincerity to her voice, mingled in amongst the sarcasm.

"Thank you," he replied, brushing his hair to one side in a mock model fashion.

"It's just, I don't find you even remotely attractive."

_BULLSHIT._ Every fibre of her emotions dripped with lust. It was nasty. Rudy's however, had just taken a sky dive.

_Oh wow, hurt, embarrassment and ooh, is that a bit of self-loathing in there too? How nice._

"I don't..." He tried to speak, but his voice caught in his throat, and it sounded as if he was genuinely shocked. "Believe you," He managed to finish.

"Why would I lie?"

"I don't know, why would you lie?"

"I'm not." She replied bluntly, gaining a snigger from yours truly, which then resulted in a 'what-the-fuck-is-your-problem?' look from her.

"Not consciously, just subconsciously, you're fucking crazy about me, aren't you?"

A smug smile spread across Charley's face, and it was clear she knew what she was doing, and I had to give it to her, it was clearly working.

Rudy cleared his throat once more and stood up from the bar.

"To be continued," He said waddling away from the bar, with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

_Oh Hi, Rudy. Have you met my friend Karma?_

_Well that didn't take long._

* * *

It had been less than twenty minutes since Charley had ever so nicely shot him down in metaphorical flames, and already they were wrapped around each other, tongues smacking together making a rather unattractive sound. And the worst part, it was right in front of my eyes.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for relationships, but I have never been particularly big on the whole 'public displays of affection' thing, especially if they had known each other for less than twenty-four hours. I just couldn't grasp why people felt the need to flaunt their happiness in the faces of those who were destined to be alone. Now I am perfectly aware that that makes me sound like some kind of cynical bastard, but the truth is, I like being on my own. I always have. The idea of a house and husband, with two kids and a dog never really appealed to me. There is so much more I could be doing with my life rather than changing crappy nappies and cleaning up dog crap, although at least if it had, I would have more than enough experience in that department.

"Did Tanya ever come back in?" I asked, hoping to maybe pull the two apart for long enough to make some actual intellectual conversation, not that that was a likely occurrence.

"No? Hello? Talking to myself again? Yep. Great." I raised my glass to my lips, gripping it tighter and tighter as a feeling of intense rage swept over me again. Tighter and tighter my hand grasped the glass, until I thought it might break under the pressure.

_No, not now. Please!_ I almost pleaded to myself, returning the glass to the table and rapidly searching around the room to find the person behind my rage. The barman had walked over to collect the empty glasses, but I could sense it wasn't him. Sure, he was slightly agitated, but that was hardly surprising, when he had to serve perhaps one of the most annoying humans in existence. I continued to search around the room, trying to connect with each person to not only find the angry person, but to try and calm them down, they had no idea that their anger affected me more than them, Poppy was an example of that.

Tanya had just walked in from the toilets and the expression on her face said it all. It was her, she was angry, and not just angry, she was fuming. I turned to face her, trying my hardest to tune into her, the music playing fading out around me as everything else just melted away. But then she was gone, the music faded back in and the hubbub from the surrounding groups of people returned.

I turned around expecting to see Tanya leaving, but there was no one, she was just…gone. Rudy and Charley had finally managed to pull themselves apart long enough to take a breath, and the barman was standing in front of the table, a broken bottle in his hand.

"Urgh", sighed Rudy holding a hand up to his head, from which a steady trickle of blood was flowing.

_What the-? When did that happen?!_

"What happened?!" Charley exclaimed looking down at Rudy's hand, which was now slightly covered in his own blood.

"Ahh! You've…you, you've bottled me!" Rudy cried at the sight of his own blood, after turning to see the man from the bar holding a smashed glass bottle near to his head.

"What you talkin' about?!" The man cried in return, looking more than a little confused.

"This man has just bottled me!" Rudy announced to the rest of the pub.

The man from the bar looked down at the remaining piece of glass still held in his hand, the look of confusion etching itself deeper onto his face.

"I didn't do anything to you!"

"Me face!" Rudy screamed almost hysterically. "Am I still…am I still…am I still gorgeous?!" He asked stumbling over his words in a panic.

"Okay," I said standing up and taking the half smashed bottle from the man. "I think everyone just needs to calm down for a minute, so we can try to work out what the fuck just happened."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and almost instantly feel the tension and stress in the room float away.

"That's better," I continued. "Now, what just happened?"

Both Rudy and the man burst into a ramble, throwing simultaneous accusations such as "This prick just bottled me!", and justifications such as "I never even touched you!" at each other, while Charley just sat there in a state of utter befuddlement.

_Oh jeez._

_**A/N- DUN DUN DUN! Exciting stuffs! Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed it let me know what you thought by reviewing, or if you have some constructive criticism let me know that too, I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks again!**_

_**Courtney XxX**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N- SORRY! I Know it's been a while since I updated…well a few weeks, but you know what I mean, but I have had a butt load of revision to do, for when I go back to school and have all my exams. Eugh. Let's not think about that, let us think about chapter 3 everyone! Here it is! Hope you enjoy! **_

_**Courtney**_

_**XxX**_

* * *

_3 missed calls. What? Who the- Oh. Poppy._

As I pushed the key into the door with one hand, I dialled in the eleven digits that had been drilled into my brain over the years.

It had taken nearly two hours to draw the incident at the bar to a very unsteady conclusion, so by the time I reached my front door, it was gone eleven, and I wanted nothing more than to throw myself on my bed and let the dream world carry me away to a life without dog shit and god-awful tangerine jumpsuits. In a sentence, I wanted the day to be over, but I had promised Poppy I would call, and me being the people pleaser I am, couldn't help but oblige.

"Hey, Pop," I almost whispered down the phone, trying to silently tiptoe through the house to get to my room. Lord knows what would happen if I woke up the parentals.

"Hey," She mumbled back, sounding as if she herself had just woken up.

"Oh sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but its fine. How was your first day on the litter picking patrol?"

"Ugh," I grumbled. "Don't even get me started on that."

As I walked into my familiar room, the whole atmosphere around me changed. It always did when I was in my own space, I was happy, content, and it was like the burden of everyone else's troubles just melted away. I chucked off my shoes and threw myself on the bed, holding the phone closer to my ear, lying on my back and looked up at the ceiling.

"It was horrible, Pop. My probation worker, Shaun, or whatever his name is, is a TOTAL waste of space, dick wad. I have no idea how he got the job, but something tells me it wasn't his winning personality. Oh god, and we have to wear these hideous fluorescent orange jumpsuits of death. You would die."

"That sounds like utter hell. What about the other people? Wait, there are others right? It's not just you, because that would be mortifying,"

"It _is _mortifying! But yeah, there are three others, two girls and a guy."

"Oooh, a guy! Is he dishy? Tell me everything!"

"He's not gorgeous, but he's not ugly, and in my mind he seems like a bit of a prick. Anyway, have you heard any more from Kit?"

Turns out Kit had been pestering Poppy for nearly a month, with "Oh baby, I want you back!", "It was a drunken mistake!" and "I promise I will never heart you again!" and thankfully, as far as I was aware, she was sticking to her guns.

"Nothing for the past few days, thank god! I didn't even see him at college yesterday, probably off banging some other slut, but that is not important, because guess who I spoke to earlier!?"

"Um, the guy who works in the cafeteria? The librarian? Our lord and saviour Jesus Christ? I dunno, Pop, who?"

"Matt…"

"UGH!" I interrupted. I hadn't dare even speak to Matt since _that night_. Not only because of the kiss, I mean that was awkward enough, but apparently, while he was driving Poppy home, he apparently declared his 'undying love for me' or some bullshit like that, which just made things a billion times worse. So what did I do, I shut down my Facebook, blanked his texts and tried to cut myself off from the world. Clearly that hadn't worked.

"What did he want?" I asked curiously.

"Well, he said that he had been trying to get in contact with you, but that you've been completely ignoring him. I just told him that your parents took you phone and stuff after the incident, but he really wants to see you, Courtney. Why not just give him a chance?"

"I am not getting into this again! Matt is a great guy, I get it, but we just don't have a connection."

"That's not what I remember."

"Hey! You said you wouldn't bring that up!" I almost shouted defensively before remembering that my parents were sleeping in the next room.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I was just saying!"

"Well don't. Anyway, it's late and I need to go to bed, but I'll call you in the morning before college?"

"Sure thing, sweetie pie. You need to finish telling me about this guy."

I smiled and hung up the phone and placing it on the nightstand. I climbed under the covers still in my clothes from the day and I had fallen asleep before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

_Litter picking again. Great. Well at least there is a variety of activities to choose from! Maybe tomorrow, they'll let me scrub the toilets_! I thought sarcastically to myself as I shoved another crushed up empty can into the blue bin bag. Shaun had pretty much shoved us onto the streets as soon as we'd arrived that morning. Myself, dragging my feet reluctantly along the corridor, followed by female Satan, a.k.a Tanya, and finally Charley and Rudy…together. No need to guess what happened there then.

"What are you smiling at?" Tanya asked in her monotone voice.

"A gentleman never tells," responded Rudy, gaining a snicker from yours truly.

"Gentleman? Please."

"I've just fucked her up the ass!" He whispered with an ecstatic smile on his face, once charley had turned her back and started to walk round the corner.

"And there is your proof." I remarked, walking over to some scrunched up newspaper that was rustling along the ground in the breeze.

Tanya looked as if he had just slapped her. "Everything you said? It was all bullshit! How could you do that to me?!"

I looked at Rudy, who like me was wearing an expression of pure confusion.

"But…but I didn't do it to you, I did it…I did it to her." He clarified. "I'm the arse man. Love em'. I'm kind of the world!"

Anger, pure anger. Nothing else, just burning hot rage, flowing through my veins like molten lava.

_No, No! Not again! What is this shit!?_

Tanya had started to breathe deeply, taking in more air than seemed absolutely necessary, almost shaking with anger….like last night at the club. I tried to calm her down, but again I was too late, as before I knew it, Rudy was tumbling down the concrete steps and landing at the bottom in front of the same people form the bar last night, including the barman.

"Jesus Christ!" I yelled, sharply turning to face Tanya. "What did you do!?"

Before she had a chance to reply I was off and running down the steps, two by two, until I reached the bottom where Rudy was still lying awkwardly in a heap, the others all standing around him.

"Are you alright?" One of the guys asked. Not the barman, the other one. Kind of shy looking, as if he didn't really belong, but somehow he fit in perfectly.

Completely ignoring the guy's worried question, Rudy lifted up his arm and pointed to the barman. "You're that crazy barman, that bottled me, you are."

"I didn't bottle you, it must have been her!" He replied, gesturing towards Tanya had been standing at the top of the stairs.

"Actually, I think it might have been. I'm not sure how, but she emotions are all over the place! I mean there is angry and then there is that!"

They all looked at me as if I was on LSD or something, so I quickly said, "I mean, you can see it on her face! What the fuck did you do to her!?" trying to cover my own tracks and move the conversation swiftly on.

Not even Poppy knew about my power, so believe me, I was not about to spill all to a bunch of strangers and a guy I had known for all of one day.

Rudy had begun to stand up and was still slightly hunched over, dealing with the pain of the fall.

"Why would she do that?" He asked panting slightly.

"Oh, I dunno, you're a dickhead," I mocked. "You must have said something to her."

The anger started to build again, and I had to dig my nails into the side of my leg to stop myself from breaking something. It was happening again. I don't know what she was doing, but I could guarantee it wasn't going to be good.

I felt a strange sensation sweep over me - a kind of coldish wave – when there was a loud smashing noise and as I turned to where it had come from I registered the sound of a car alarm blaring.

"What set that-" I began, when I was suddenly aware that in my hand was a thick broken shard of cinderblock.

Then I saw the broken windscreen of a nearby car. _Oh. Fuck_.

The whole group stood staring at their hands, each of us holding a large shard of the brick. There was a moment of stunned silence before a police siren added to blaring car alarm.

"Fuck!" Shouted the girl, in whatever accent that was.

"My sentiments exactly," I added, dropping the piece of brick, and letting it smash as it hit the floor.

The other followed suit as the girl shouted "Go!" at the top of her voice and we all bolted in different directions, me following Rudy back up the concrete steps.

_Fuck me! Why did I choose the most athletic route?!_

We had ran for what felt like an eternity, so when Rudy finally stopped and pulled me down to hide behind the walls of a staircase, my lungs felt as if they were on fire. I was gasping for air and the muscles in the back of my legs ached. After a few minutes of breathless silence, the girl and one of the guys, the shy one ran up to us and slid down the wall next to where Rudy was sitting.

"I swear to god," I panted. "I am going to find this bitch, and kill her."

I turned to face Rudy who despite also trying to inhale gallons of oxygen, had a smile plastered across his face.

"I've gotta stop smoking and doin' loads of speed, me."

The shy guy just laughed a little, while myself and the other girl sat still trying to catch our breath.

I could hear footsteps running up the stairs and wanted to cry. My body was not made for this amount of physical exercise, but just as I was about to hoist myself up for another running session, the barman in the green jacket came into view.

_Oh thank the Lord!_

"I thought they had ya!" Said the girl.

"No. I got away. I-," he paused midsentence and gave a sharp look towards me and Rudy, before turning back and finishing with "I did my thing."

"Ah! If that is some sort of vague reference to all this 'power' bullshit, then don't worry about it, cos I am cool and the gang with all that."

Wait, what? They have powers? Other people have powers? It's not just me! I mean, yeah I googled it when I first started noticing stuff, but it all just looked like pretentious bullshit, but it's real. Other people have powers too.

I looked around all of them in turn, each was pulling a face at Rudy as if to say 'Are you fucking mad?!"

I looked to Rudy last, trying to figure out what his power was, but he was too busy gawking at the shy one.

"You're very starey," he eventually said.

* * *

Well, I had to admit that Rudy was actually right about something: the boy really was starey. He literally would not stop staring at Rudy and I as we made our way across the estate to the guy's apartment. Apparently, we needed to 'discuss powers' with him and the other guy and girl.

I'd like to say that they seemed like friendly people. But. The dark skinned guy, who I found out was called Curtis, did nothing but glare at the road ahead of him, the girl, Kelly, had a chavvy tone of voice that was more than slightly aggressive and Starey Guy, Simon, just…well, stared. So if I said they seemed like nice people, I'd be lying. I had literally no idea what to say to them, or even consider if the idea of revealing my power to them was a good one, but it hardly mattered; Rudy spoke enough for all four of us that were staying silent. Jesus Christ, did the guy ever shut up?

Apparently so, as when the Simon pointed out his apartment to us, Rudy shut the fuck up almost instantly. I, on the other hand, just stood there open-mouthed. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. On the inside, I assumed. Because out here, it just looked like the beat-up metal door of an elevator that lead up to a warehouse-type flat, that you would see some serial rapist killer take his victims.

"Hm…Homey." I said, my voice dripping with fake geniality.

_Must have been some real T.A.R.D.I.S shit going down when this was built._

And by the looks of it, there had been. The inside of Simon's flat was futuristic to say the least. And not in a 'weird, nerdy, has technology sprouting from every nook and cranny' way. No, this was futuristic in more of a simplistic kind of way. The lights came on automatically as we all stepped out into what looked like a shell of an old warehouse, and directly in front of us was what looked like a huge stone platform, on which a mattress was sitting. To the left of that was a small kitchen area, again made mostly of what looked like granite work tops.

_Wow._

Rudy made a loud sound of awe as he passed through the big metal door of the lift and out into the open space of the bedroom/kitchen/hallway, whatever it was.

"Woah, this is cool! Loving that lift! Look at this lift!" He said, sounding like a small child in a toy shop. I smiled and continued to look around what seemed to be an open floor flat. No rooms, just the one separated into little sections. Behind the lift, the room continues and I could just make out what appeared to be a shower.

_Well, I hope the toilet isn't that exposed. _I thought to myself, not daring to ask, just in case_._

Rudy, still over excited about his new surroundings, stretched out his arms in an attempt to try and touch the lights that were still flickering on, laughing as he did.

"Brilliant!" He exclaimed. The others were just looking at him, with mocking smiles spread across their faces.

_Note to self: Don't do anything vaguely childish or stupid for fear of being judged by the much older, cooler, and not on community service people._

Curtis and Kelly had made their way over to what I'm guessing was the bed and had sat down on the platform. Simon was still standing over by a wall, seeming to be looking for something, while Rudy, snapping out of his excited child state, was walking over to where the other two were sitting.

"So all this whole… this turning into a girl thing, is that born out of some sort of sexual confusion or something?"

Oh yeah, that reminds me, on the way over Curtis had explained how his power was that he could somehow turn into girl. Apparently at first he'd had the power to stop time, but then some crazy shit went down, he sold it and then changed it for that. Lord knows why.

"There ain't no sexual confusion."

Rudy ran his hands through his short brown hair as he made his way over to a wall, where a metal contraption type thing was standing. Seriously, some of this stuff belonged in a factory, on a episode of Star Trek.

"If you say so,"

"They all got their powers before me! It was all they had left!" He replied defensively.

"He's a bit touchy, ain't he?" Rudy returned, gesturing to Simon, where Curtis was sitting.

"Ignore him, he's a bit…" I said making a 'cuckoo' gesture with my hands. "well, you can see what I mean."

Rudy continued to make his way around the flat, exploring his surroundings, Simon now following him around replacing all the things he moved and stopping him from fiddling with certain bits of furniture.

"So this girl he turns into,"

Simon cut Rudy off midsentence to retrieve a book from his hands, to place it back on the shelf he had moved it from.

"Would you? Ya know. Would you, er…would you fuck her?" he then continued, raising an eyebrow in Simon's direction and shaking the latest piece of decoration that he had picked up.

"We haven't seen her," Simon interjected quickly in an attempt to save his assets from Rudy's grasp.

"Oh" He replied, moving on to the next piece of equipment that took his fancy. He turned his attention to what looked like an old piece of factory machinery and started to pull on each of the dials until on came off in his hand.

_Oh my God, he did not just break that. Please, tell me he didn't just break that._

But alas, the look on Simon's face said it all. He rolled his eyes, and took the piece of the gadget from Rudy's hand and placed it back on the desk on which the contraption stood.

_How is that even possible?! You've been here less than ten minutes?!_

"I've always wanted my own vagina", he continued without an apology, completely oblivious to Simon's clear annoyance.

"Not to keep, cos I've heard they require a lot of maintenance. You know, upkeep, like cleaning and polishing, things like that."

"I'm sorry?! Polishing?! It's not a piece of furni-" I was cut off midsentence by what felt like my heart being crushed into a million tiny pieces. I couldn't breathe, the tightening in my chest getting worse and worse. My eyes started to fill with water and a lump began to arise in my throat. I could feel myself beginning to cry as I looked around the others who were now looking around me slightly concerned, except for Rudy who was too engrossed in a picture Simon had on his wall.

"Are you alright?" Kelly asked looking at me, just as confused as I was.

W_hat now?!_

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, my voice catching in my throat, tears threatening to spilling over my cheeks. I clutched at my chest to try and relieve the pain that was spreading across my chest.

_Oh my God, I'm having a heart attack!_

"Oh it's…it's you,"

I looked up through my tear filled eyes, confused as to who Rudy was addressing, and found a beautiful young coloured girl standing in a kimono style dressing gown, with a towel wrapped around her hair. The stabbing in my heart intensified almost crippling me.

"Do you two know each other?" Simon asked, the very popular look of confusion spread across his face.

"Er…we went to the same college," The girl replied, seeming slightly shocked by Rudy's presence.

Rudy, mimicking my stance, clutched at his stomach tensing all the muscles as if trying to squeeze himself to death.

"Um…This has been brilliant…ain't it? Ah, I really have to go, I've got things…got stuff to do and that."

"Are you alright, mate?" Kelly asked as Rudy almost ran to the lift. I took the opportunity to run at the same time, tears still rolling down my cheeks and the stabbing in my heart becoming progressively worse.

"Wait, I'll come with you," I choked out, following Rudy over towards the lift.

I could feel the others' eyes burning into my soul as I stood waiting for Rudy to pull across the big metal door, and sure enough, when I turned around, make-up streaming down my face, still crying, all four of them, including the strange girl, were staring at us as if we were mental, which, I'm not going to lie, I probably would have too.

"Come on, you…" Rudy exclaimed through what sounded like gritted teeth.

_Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! _I screamed internally. _I look like an idiot…and not to mention fucking crazy!_

"How does this fuckin' lift work?" Rudy muttered, still trying to close the lift door. "Who has a lift in their flat, man?!"

Jesus, if that door didn't open in the next four seconds then all these people were going to see me cry out every emotion in my body.

"Rudy, just open the fucking door!" I screeched, and I reached across him and grabbed hold of the cold metal handle, wrenching it across the lift. It would have looked angrier if it hadn't gotten stuck about three times.

"Nice one," Rudy said in a tone that I couldn't tell if it was an aggrieved moan or what, as we both ran inside and he struggle to pull the big sheet of metal across. After what seemed like a lifetime the lift started to creep slowly downwards, but not before Rudy suddenly doubled over, grunting in pain.

"Rudy?!" I exclaimed, panicked, tears still streaming down my cheeks. "What is it?!"

"No, don't you worry about me, beautiful," he groaned. "There's nothin' to see here."

Oh okay, so NOW I'm beautiful. If my eyes hadn't been so full of water and aching from all the crying, I without a doubt am positive that would have required an eye roll, but for now all I could choke out was a nervous laugh.

A few seconds later there was a weird warping sound in the air, followed by a loud crash as another human popped Rudy's chest causing me to scream as he nearly knocked me over. There was a pained cry from Rudy as he began to slide down the wall, finally free of what was crippling him.

The 'chest-human' thing, whatever and whoever it was, began to stand up, using me as a leaning post. I looked up at the strange guy standing in front of me, and upon clocking eyes with him, I realised he wasn't so strange at all. It was Rudy.

"Sorry about that, sweetheart," he laughed, brushing himself off, while the original Rudy sat in deflated heap against the side of the lift.

I screamed. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

THIS DID NOT LOOK LIKE NOTHING.

* * *

_**A/N- Well, wasn't that fun! I hope you enjoyed that latest little instalment, and if you did, let me know by leaving a little review, it would be muchly appreciated. Or even if you didn't! Let me know, type a little comment in the box below if you have any idea about what needs improvement! Until next time, my friends! **_

_**Courtney **_

_**XxX**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N- Well, aren't you guys lucky! So I had a few hours spare yesterday, so I started with the next chapter. Long story short, I got a bit carried away and was still writing at half past three in the morning, but on the plus side, it means you get another chapter! So yeah, this one takes a small step away from the shows events, which is exciting! Pre-warn for those her suffer from a nervous disposition, there is a bit of the uh...*cue Miranda voice*...sexy talk. Fear not though, it's nothing particularly graphic...so yeah! I hope you enjoy!**_

_**Courtney!**_

_**XxX**_

I stood, my eyes fixed on the second Rudy, in a state of utter confusion. What the hell had I just witnessed?! Another human had just burst out of his chest, that isn't exactly an everyday occurrence!

"Well, I guess the secret's out of the bad now, ain't it?!" The original Rudy laughed nervously.

The pain in my chest had slightly subsided now and had kind of simmered down into more of a dull ache, but that may have just been the shock of what had just happened. I had just witnessed another human being pop out of nowhere. Out. Of. Nowhere. Clearly I was going insane.

"Okay, um…I don't mean to be rude or anything, but seriously, what the fuck just happened?" I questioned, turning my attention to who I now like to call 'Rudy one'.

"Well the thing is, right? You know that big ol' shit storm, ice raining down from the sky, crushing small animals and whatnot?"

"I'm pretty sure no animals were hurt, but yeah,"

"Well basically, I were outside, just walking down the street, right, and this big bolt of lightning, just hit me, knocked me straight off my feet, and when I got back up, thought I was fine. Then boom, two hours later, he pops out and all hell breaks loose."

The storm…this was his power. He could somehow create a doppelganger of himself. That's what he meant by he was "all up in that power bullshit", he had a power.

"So what, he's just another you?" I asked cautiously eyeing up the new arrival.

"Well, basically yeah."

"Except," said the doppelganger, shocking me out of my stare. "I am a lot nicer, and in general a more kind, and caring person."

"Oh come on, man! Don't get all sentimental on her, you'll freak her out!"

"Basically, I'm his conscience. The part of him that actually feels something."

Rudy two held out his hand, which I reluctantly took, and gave it a firm shake.

_This is fucking weird_.

The lift came to a slow halt having finished its journey down from Simon's flat, and Rudy got up to open the big metal gate. He walked out followed by the other him, leaving me still standing in the lift, still befuddled.

"Well, um, this has been great and all that, and it would be greatly appreciated if you didn't go announcing…this," He gestured to his chest and then the second him, "but, we really should go now, so um…"

"Woah, hold on there, man, you can just let her see all that, and just leave her without an explanation! Why don't we all go get a drink, and talk about this like adults?"

Rudy two had a point. I was not letting him get away with this. I wanted an explanation, and considering the dull throbbing in my chest was still there, I had a feeling that had something to do with all of this too.

"Great idea!" I enthused, smiling towards Rudy two. "In fact, my parents are away in the lake district this weekend, visiting my aunt, so we could all go back to mine and raid the liquor cabinet. I'm sure my dad won't mind, and that way it's more private. You can tell me everything, because I am not leaving without a full explanation of whatever the fuck this is."

"That sounds lovely, don't it?"

Rudy two and I turned out attention to the original Rudy who just moaned in agitation and thrust his head into his hands.

"It wasn't a request. Come on! Shall we?" I asked, lifting my arm in the cliché 'shall we dance' way.

Rudy one, made another groan of exasperation and stomped along behind me and Rudy two, dragging his feet the whole way back to the community centre.

* * *

After a quick trip back to the community centre to collect our stuff, we left and began the ten minute walk back to my empty house. Rudy seemed to liven up a little after a while, and the pain in my chest had continued to fade, so that now it was mainly gone, thank god. I spent most of the journey talking to Rudy two about what it was like to live 'Inside Rudy' as it were. According to him, it was just like being himself, and that he usually only pops out when Rudy experiences high levels of emotion, which I had sort of gathered from the events of earlier on, but it was nice to have the clarification.

"Okay, we're here," I announced as we walked up the drive towards the front door. I went into my bag, to retrieve my keys, opened the door and stepped aside to allow them both in.

"Wait!" I said, holding my arm out to stop Rudy from stepping over the threshold. "Do you promise not to break…actually, touch, anything?"

Rudy held up his hands with an expression of mock hurt spread across his face.

"I am offended that you think I am capable of doing such a thing! And I think it's very rude that you didn't make him promise!" He said pointing to Rudy two who was now making himself at home on my couch.

"Yeah, well he's not a twat," I joked. "Come on, just don't touch anything!"

I stepped aside once more, allowing Rudy one into come inside and make his way into the living room. I removed my key and shut the door, and picking up the mail that had been delivered and placing it on the table along with my keys, I followed him.

"Okay, so it is currently twenty minutes past five," I said glancing over at the clock on the wall. "Is it too early to start drinking?"

"No. Absolutely not. Break it all out, all the alcohol, just whack it out." Rudy enthused, slumping himself down on the armchair, where my father usually resided.

"Alright then, um make yourself at home I guess. There are some CDs in my room, if you want to check them out, they're on the shelf above my bed. It's up the stairs and the door on the left."

I made my way across the hallway and into the dining room where my parents kept all the alcohol.

_Okay, so we have Vodka, Whiskey, and vermouth….What the hell is vermouth?!_

I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed all three of the bottles, and made my way back into the living room, where now only Rudy two was sitting.

"I have no idea what Vermouth is, but it's alcoholic so it will have to…where's Rudy one?" I asked, cutting myself off mid-sentence.

"Uh, I think he went to find some CDs like you said."

"I meant you, oh god."

I walked back out into the hallway and stood at the bottom of the staircase.

"I swear to god, Rudy, if you are looking through my underwear drawer, I will come up there and strangle you with it!" I shouted.

"The drawer or the underwear?!" He shot back.

"Both!" I rolled my eyes and could feel a smile trying to break free. God, he was an idiot.

"Don't panic," He said returning from my room with a stack of CDs and heading back downstairs. "I wouldn't dream of invading a woman's personal space, like that."

"Oh, really?"

"Scouts honour!" He replied, lifting his hand into a salute.

I rolled my eyes and shoved his arm playfully, taking the CDs off him and again, following him back into the living room.

I had to admit, when Rudy wasn't around other people, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Shutting the living room door behind me, I walked over the stereo and placed disc one of my 'Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat' album into the tray and a few seconds later, the room was filled with the electronic dance music. I turned the volume up slightly, just loud enough so that we could all hear each other without having to shout and sat down in front of the sofas where both Rudy's were sitting. I took the vodka bottle from the coffee table and took a swig before handing it to Rudy one who took it gladly.

"Okay," I began, "Tell me everything.

* * *

Rudy had spent the next two hours telling me the in depth story of how he had discovered his power after being hit by the storm and how that had somehow lead to him getting a community service sentence, and I had to admit, despite the nature of the story, I couldn't help but laugh. The guy really didn't have much luck when it came to the whole 'staying out of trouble' thing.

By this point, we were all pretty wasted, well, except Rudy two, who point blank refused to drink anything, because, I quote, "Somebody has to be the responsible one."

Buzzkill much? I mean, he seemed sweet and a nice guy, or at least the nice half of one guy, but he didn't half ruin the fun. The whole reason I invited them- _or is it him? Do they count as two people? I suppose they would, they have two different personalities…anyway_- over was to have a few drinks and to explain everything. Turns out, Rudy two was only in favour of one of those things, and boy did he like to talk about it, and 'how it made him feel', to put it is psychiatry terms.

"So, let me get this right, he lives inside you?" I slurred and then giggled in my drunken state as I realised the innuendo I had just made.

"Basically, yeah!" He laughed back. "He lives right in here," He continued, pointing to his chest, just across from his heart.

I stood up and stumbled my way across to where Rudy one was sitting on the sofa.

"Right there!" I mimicked, pointing to where his finger had just been.

There was a moment of charged silence between us, despite the music that had gotten progressively louder as the evening continued, but it was soon interrupted when my favourite song, blared out from the speakers.

"I love this song!" I squealed, using the remote to turn it up louder. "Dance with me!"

I flung my hand out towards Rudy who took it hoisting himself up from the sofa, nearly falling back down and taking me with him.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk," Rudy two announced, making his way around the two of us and towards the door.

"No! Don't go!" I said, grabbing his hand as moved past me. "Like you said, we need a 'responsible adult!"

"No, no, let him go. He'll only bring you down," Rudy one interjected, his hand on my waist, swinging me about from side to side.

I moved out of Rudy's grasp leaving him to dance by himself, and stumbled over two Rudy two.

"Please stay, I don't want to be alone with that thing over there!" I giggled pointing to Rudy who was now resuming his position on the couch.

"That's very rude, that is!"

"I am rude!"

"We shall see about that!" He joked, taking another swig from the nearly empty vodka bottle.

"You see! That's why I don't trust him! Pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseeeee stay!" I whined.

"I'll be back, I just want to get some air."

I could feel his sadness, it was like feeling empty inside, and I felt sorry for him, I did, but in my drunken state, I didn't even think about helping him. Which looking back on things, was a really dickish thing to do.

"Okay! Make sure you come back though! Don't get lost!" I mumbled, walking back to my spot on the floor leaving Rudy two to find his own way out.

As the sound of door shutting echoed into the living room, I took the bottle from Rudy and finished it in one big swig.

"So, why is a nice girl like yourself on community service?"

"Well basically, long story short, my best friend's boyfriend cheated on her one night at a club, so I smashed up his car. He pressed charges, and well, here I am!"

"You smashed up a guy's car…for cheating on your friend?"

"Yup!" I smiled, taking a shot of vermouth. "Usually I'm not that violent, but my power heightens all my senses and stuff so yeah…oh shit!"

_You fucking idiot! _I thought to myself. _Months you had managed to keep that a secret! Months! Then the moment you have a few too many drinks, BAM, the secret's out._

"You didn't say you had a power! Now, who's keeping secrets?!"

"You never asked," I replied calmly, although on the inside I was screaming slightly.

Not even Poppy , my best friend, new about my power, and here I was spilling my guts to some guy I had known barely two days. _Good one, Courtney_.

"What is it? Is it cool? Can your emotions like control the weather, 'cos that would be some proper Houdini shit!"

"Um…I'm pretty sure Houdini was an escape artist," I laughed, "And no. I'm sort of an empath. So like I can feel everyone else's emotions, and then my own emotions are influenced and heightened by whatever everyone else is feeling. So, the night I trashed Kit's car, I was angry myself, but then I also kind of adopted Poppy's anger too. Oh and then there was Matt. Eugh. "

Rudy looked at me with a slight lost expression on his face.

"Matt is this guy who has this weird kind of obsession with me, and that night he kissed me, and despite the fact I didn't want the kiss, his emotions heightened mine, so it was like swimming in a pool of lust filled ickyness."

"That's pretty cool, man! I mean the power thing, not the ickyness."

"Yeah, it was nasty. And now, he won't stop calling me and stuff, so I just sit there like "Helloooooooo, get the message!" I rambled. "In fact," I said taking my phone out of my pocket, "I have had three missed called, just today. Despite the fact he thinks my parents confiscated my phone. What. A. Creep."

"Give me your phone," he said holding his hand out for the device.

"Why?" I replied placing it in his hand.

"I am gonna sort out this little problem of yours, once and for all." He said replied hitting redial.

I jumped up as fast I could, nearly tripping over my own feet in my drunken state, and narrowly avoiding smacking my head on the table.

"No! Rudy, don't!" I almost screamed, launching myself at him, but it was too late.

"Hello, Courtney. I'm so glad you finally called, listen-"

"Is this Matt…what's his last name?" he interrupted.

"Rudy! Seriously, hang up the phone! This isn't funny!" I whispered loudly, jumping on him trying to reach the phone and failing.

"Who is this?" Matt asked from the other end of the line.

"This, my good fellow, is Courtney's new bit on the side, and she is kindly asking you to stop calling as she is one hundred percent, not interested. I mean seriously, mate, three times in one day, that is just desperate! You're only making it worse for yourself."

"RUDY! Matt ignore him!" I screamed, again trying to reach for the phone.

Rudy pushed me back with his arm, and clapped his hand over my mouth, muffling my screams into quiet mumbles.

"Can I speak to Courtney please?" Matt asked sounding a little annoyed,

"Rudy, give me the phone!" I tried to shout, but his hand over my mouth meant it came out as a loud muffle.

"I don't think that's a very good idea. You see, Courtney has moved on to bigger things, and I mean that in all senses, genitals and all,"

I screamed and tried to break free once more, but when his hand wouldn't budge I took drastic measures, extending my tongue so that it came into contact with the flesh of his palm. Rudy moved his hand almost instantly and began wiping it on his trousers.

"Thank, is disgusting!"

"Yeah, well, that is what you get for being a douche!" I said leaning over him and grabbing the phone while he was distracted. "Hello?! Matt?" Nothing. The line was dead. He had hung up.

_Great. _

I put my phone back in my pocket and turned to face Rudy, who was still wiping his hand on his trousers.

"Who licks someone!?"

"I do, when people deserve it, and you do," I shot back with a glare.

"Well in that case, you could at least lick somewhere worthwhile, if you know what I mean," he laughed slightly, his eyebrows raised and a goofy smile plastered across his face.

I scrunched my face up in disgust and laughed "you are disgusting!"

"You know, you are not the first person to tell me that. So this power thing, can you like control emotions, or is it like you just feel it?"

"Not my own, unfortunately, but I can other people sometimes, but it works better if I'm touching the other person. It's like it builds a stronger connection or some bulllshit like that." I replied taking a swig of the remaining vodka.

"Try it on me." He said holding out his hand towards me.

"What? No."

"Go on! See if you can influence my emotions, failing that, tell me what I'm feeling."

"I'm not even sure I want to know," I laughed back.

"Well, I guess you can't do it then. I think that you are just saying that because you don't actually have a power and you just want to fit in with the cool kids."

"Okay, one, if you are one of the cool kids, then society really needs to sort it's shit out, and two, you are aware that I am currently in the middle of taking a psychology A level right? Or at least I was, either way, that reverse psychology shit won't work on me."

"Then prove it, prove you can do it."

I rolled my eyes, took another swig of vodka, and placing the bottle back on the table, got up and slumped down next to Rudy on the sofa.

"Fine, turn this way, and give me your hands." I instructed, lifting up my legs so that they were crossed. He did and as I placed my hands on his, my own emotions instantly heightened, accompanied by his.

"What are you getting? Have I got some magnificent aura?"

"Seriously shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

"Sorry!" He whispered insincerely.

"Okay, so you're happy, well, when I say happy, I mean more content, but that may just be the alcohol and intoxication talking. You're confused about something, which is causing you stress, but you block it out. You're angry at someone or something but you're also feeling…"

"What?" he asked looking me dead in the eyes.

I pulled my hands away and reached for the bottle, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Was that it? I could have told you that!"

"Yeah, but you didn't." I said turning to face him.

I hadn't notice it before but his eyes were an amazing hazel colour, and they had a warmth too them that I had failed to see when I first met him. The truth was, I didn't know how to act now, even in my drunken state. _Lust. Why did it have to be lust?_ Don't get me wrong, he was attractive, and I totally would, but I hadn't ever, you know, since getting my power. Not only are all my emotions heightened, I can feel whatever they feel, and that was a totally new concept to me.

"You have a lot of tattoos," I said trying to move the conversation on.

"Yeah, I'm like a walking art gallery, me!" he joked lifting his arms up to showcase his body art, causing me to smile slightly.

One tattoo caught my eye in specific, a swallow on the back of his right hand. It stood out because I had a similar one on my leg, just above my ankle.

I lifted up the bottom of my skinny jeans, and stretched my foot across Rudy's lap.

"Snap!" I said pointing to the small bird and then to his hand.

He lifted my leg slightly to examine the ink and then traced the lines of it with his thumb, his touch gentle and smooth.

"A swallow?" He asked taking his eye off my leg for only a moment.

"Yeah, I got it after my Nan died. Swallows were her favourite bird and apparently they represent freedom and love, so it seemed kind of appropriate. I was only seventeen when I had that done, my mother went mental!" I laughed, half lost in the memory.

"Did it hurt?" He asked, still gently tracing it with his thumb.

"Stung like a bitch." I laughed again, watching his thumb circle around my ankle, lingering a moment before removing his hand.

_Don't stop._ I thought to myself, already slightly missing the warmth of his touch against my skin. _Okay, I have clearly had too much to drink._

Our eyes connected for a moment before he took the bottle from me and looked away.

"Oh Jesus," I though aloud moving my leg back so that I was sitting cross legged again.

"He won't help you, love. Believe me I have tried that one many a time! Guy's a cunt if you ask me,"

I laughed again and closing my eyes for a moment, whispered to myself "Don't over think this. It is clearly the alcohol talking,"

"Huh?"

"Nothing…just talking to myself," I said not taking my eyes of him.

"First sign of madness that is. Then comes the-" I leant forward wrapping my hands behind his neck and kissed him, cutting him of midsentence. I felt his body tense up in surprise at the advance, but after a second or two he relaxed, putting his hands around my waist and pulling me so that I was sitting on his lap.

_Oh God. What am I doing?! Courtney, stop, you fucking idiot! Stop kissing him…Now…do not…okay maybe just enjoy it for a bit longer…You know what, you're single, and this is perfectly fine. You're an adult you are allowed to do this…and if not…blame it on the alcohol. _

My mind was swimming, unable to control the mental block I had formed in my mind, both his and my emotions combined washed over me, merging into a wave of sensations as he tore his mouth away from mine and began kissing my neck, while his hands worked their way up my top. My body responded eagerly to his every touch, my skin on fire, and my hands running through his soft brown hair.

_Oh my god. _My inner voice almost screamed. _Why the fuck were you afraid to try this! Wow, he could teach Matt a thing or two, I'll give him that….okay, yup, that is definitely a sign of intoxication._

I blocked out my inner monologue that was babbling on inside my brain and tried to focus on his touch as his fingers brushed the underwire of my bra as he lifted off my shirt, throwing it to the floor, and then removing his own, so that more of his inked flesh was on show. He trailed rougher kisses down my collar bone and across my chest, causing my heart to pound harder and my cheeks to flush crimson red. He picked me up slightly and turned to lay me down of the sofa, so that my back was against the soft cushions.

_If my mother knew what was happening on these cushions right now, she would quite literally shit a brick! Okay, really Courtney, you're thinking of your mother at a time like this?!_

"Oh, shut up!" I pleaded aloud to myself.

Rudy stopped for a moment, his lips no longer making their way down towards my navel.

"Huh? Did you say something, because I was kind of in the flow of things then?!"

"No," I laughed breathlessly.

"Alright then, now let the master continue, he works better without distraction,"

I opened my mouth to say "Okay, no. I'm sorry, what?! The master? Really?" but Rudy just pushed a finger to my lips and mouthed 'ssshh'. Rolling my eyes with a smile, I mimed zipping my mouth shut and throwing away the key, and with that he resumed his skilful touch, and well, let's just say…'that Zipper didn't work very well.'

* * *

"Well, the neighbours could have been lying, I don't hear any music now, but I tell you now, if our trip was cut short for no reason, I will not be biting my tongue. I have had enough of Jane accusing our daughter of-COURTNEY MARIE!"

I sat bolt upright, causing my head to pound and my stomach to churn.

_Okay, wow that is not a nice feeling. _

I shook my head slightly trying to clear the fog that had engulfed my brain and found myself wanting to throw up. As my vision cleared, I looked over to the door to where two people were standing, and not only two people…My parents.

"Fuck!" I screamed, grabbing Rudy's coat from the floor to cover my half naked body. "Mum, dad, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"We could ask you the same question, young lady! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Rudy! Rudy wake up!" I said nudging him with my elbow and he began to stir.

"What?" He grumbled stretching his naked body across the sofa, making my parents gasp and avert their eyes.

"Get. Up. Now."

"Oh, I see, time for round three is it?!" He smiled groggily lifting himself up from the sofa and trying to grab onto me.

"No, Rudy. Get up. My parents are here!"

"That's alright, the more the merrier in my opinion!" He said not truly grasping what I had just said. "Wait what?" He said finally looking over to where my parents were stood, trying to avoid all eye contact with me and my guest and were looking around at the mess of the night before.

"Oh Jesus!" He shouted when he realised, looking around for something to cover himself with.

Realising that I was using his coat and that the nearest piece of his clothing was half way across the room, I threw myself in front of where he was standing to block the more personal parts of him from view.

"Hiya!" He said, slightly embarrassed, although hiding it rather well. "I'm Rudy, a uh…friend of your daughter's!"

Silence was all that followed, as my whole body was cringing internally and wishing for death.

_Oh god, please just kill me. God, just let me die. _

"And what a lovely, if somewhat flexible daughter you have yourself there. So nicely done!"

"Rudy!" I gasped elbowing him in the chest causing him to double over as the air escaped his chest. "Why are you home? You're not meant to be back until Wednesday?"

"No, we weren't. But then we got a phone call from Jane complaining about the level of noise coming from here and that it sounded like you were having a right ol' jamboree! I didn't want to believe her, but I guess she knows you better than we do!" Mum sounded like she was going to burst into tears and I could feel the overwhelming emotions engulfing her, anger, sadness, and worst of all, disappointment.

"Mum, I'm sorry-" I began, but she just walked out and into the hallway, leaving me and Rudy to stand under my father's watchful stare.

I wanted more than anything to run out of the room, or at least grab my clothes so that I wasn't so exposed, but if I moved, he was. I leant back against Rudy's chest, feeling the warm of his flesh against mine, sparking memories of the night before, causing me to blush further with embarrassment.

"Uh…don't mean to interrupt this whole stare-down thing, but I'm going to need me trousers, or at least me undergarments."

"Can you just wait a minute!?" I said, turning to face him slightly, but just enough that the coat still covered him.

"Not really, no. Not if I want to protect my modesty."

"What? It's a bit late for that!"

Rudy looked me dead in the eye, lifted his hand and subtly pointed downward towards where the coat covered. I looked down to wear he was pointing and wanted to die of embarrassment.

_You have GOT to be kidding me! Of all the times! Now. It had to be now!_

"Oh my god, really!?Now?!" I screamed, almost dropping the coat.

"Well, I'm sorry, it's not like I can control it! Morning glory and all that! You'll know what I'm talking about, won't you, big man?" He said gesturing to my dad.

I wanted to cry. Not only had my parents just walked in on me and a guy I had known less than seventy-two hours, naked on their couch, said guy was now questioning my father about his past experiences with the 'oh so inconvenient' morning boner!

_Fuck. My life. _

"I thought you were better than this, Courtney." My dad said, completely disregarding Rudy's statement.

"Dad please! Don't be angry, I'm nineteen, it's not like its illegal. I'm an adult now!"

"Then start acting like one! First the criminal sentence, and now this! What is happening to you! You were doing so well! And now we come home to find you on our sofa with some random guy! When you live in our house, you live under our rules!"

And with that, he left. Walking out of the living room and into the hallway, where my mother was still standing, closing the door behind him.

"Well that was awkward, weren't it!" Rudy sighed, moving away from me to collect his clothes.

"Bit of an understatement! And you didn't help!" I shouted fixing the clasps of my bra and pulling my shirt over my torso.

"Well, it could have been worse; they could have walked in on the action!"

"Please, just stop talking."

I pulled my leggings on and started to pick up the empty bottles that were scatted across the floor. I looked at the clock and realised we were late. It was twenty to nine and community service was due to start in twenty minutes.

My head was still spinning and it felt as if someone was washing up in my stomach.

"We're late, I think you should leave."

"Are you not coming?"

"Have you seen this face?! No, they'll just have to deal with me being a few minutes late. And no doubt I'm due a lecture. So I'll meet you there."

"Alright, well this was fun and all that. We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah, maybe not." I said completely seriously, handing him back his coat and walking him out the door.

_**A/N- Ooooh, AWKWARD! I was cringing while writing this, so boy am I glad this wasn't based on true events...well the last part at least! I would love a review from you guys, let me know what you thought or if you have any constructive criticism, especially regarding the characterisation of Rudy, as that is one aspect I am still trying to come to terms with, so yeah, Help a girl out! It would be greatly appreciated! **_

_**Thanks! **_

_**Courtney**_

_**Xxx**_


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